Yeah had a libertarian friend make the argument about how many stabbings there were; "why don't we ban knives?"... actually only 13% of murders are stabbings while 68% are firearms.

BUT beyond that . . . how many Mass Murders are done with knives?

Heard of any drive by stabbings ?

Excuses, excuses, excuses !!

Sorry to hear of the incident - I hope the student recovers quickly. The other kid must have been listening to Rush or Fox too much ! (Actually sorry for him too- he really F-ed up. )

But that is the next step. Since 1996 UK firearm ban has been in place the number of stabbing deaths has increased significantly. With the UK government introducing legislation to limit the length of knives. If someone wants to kill they will find a tool to do it with, if a gun isn't available, then a knife, or a bat, or a tree branch, or a heavy ornament will suffice.

_________________________I used to think it was terrible that life was unfair. Then I thought what if life were fair and all of the terrible things that happen came because we really deserved them? Now I take comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.

Do you call supporting access to ARs and high-capacity magazines for the general public "gun safety"? Do you call opposing background checks and shared databases "gun safety"? Do you call rejecting an entire body common sense policies that will make it harder for the wrong people to get their hands on firearms "gun safety"? Really, Dave?

Sure, training classes for proper gun handling and storage are a good and necessary thing. But what's the NRA's historic and present POV on who has access to what kinds of guns? One word: "NO!"

Gun safety and public safety are not the same thing. And as long as the NRA leadership continues to push back on and prevent the latter, the former does next to nothing to solve the problem of 32 gun deaths a day. Should my assumption of your membership be the opposite of my assumption of Kate's?

BTW, show me examples of poisonous and totally out of bounds anti-gun rhetoric from gun control advocates. Show me ads singling out family members of Wayne LaPierre and David Keene. Show me...

But none of those are as efficient as a gun. I would bet that while stabbing incidents may have increased, the number of victims per incident has decreased. A standard clip in a Glock 9mm yields 15 victims in less than 10 seconds. Can't do that with a knife or a bat or a tree branch or a heavy ornament.

This is about deterrence and reduction. Elimination, sadly, is not a realistic goal.

And this is also a story about an uptick in violent crime, which is going to be with something besides guns if you don't have access to them.

I think I have mentioned this before, but they have a restraining device in Japan that could be used to keep a would be attacker at bay. There was one tacked to a pillar near me in my office at my old school. Try using one of these to stop someone with a gun.

But none of those are as efficient as a gun. I would bet that while stabbing incidents may have increased, the number of victims per incident has decreased. A standard clip in a Glock 9mm yields 15 victims in less than 10 seconds. Can't do that with a knife or a bat or a tree branch or a heavy ornament.

This is about deterrence and reduction. Elimination, sadly, is not a realistic goal.

True enough but then most of the gun deaths in the US are single kills, and not the result of mass shootings. And while I will agree that a larger magazine has the potential to increase the number of victims, 15 victims from a 15 round magazine is asking for some good marksmanship - well at least better than some headline making police districts seem to be capable of, I've heard stories of 90 shots fired with less than 10% hitting the target in some cases.

_________________________I used to think it was terrible that life was unfair. Then I thought what if life were fair and all of the terrible things that happen came because we really deserved them? Now I take comfort in the general unfairness and hostility of the universe.

But none of those are as efficient as a gun. I would bet that while stabbing incidents may have increased, the number of victims per incident has decreased. A standard clip in a Glock 9mm yields 15 victims in less than 10 seconds. Can't do that with a knife or a bat or a tree branch or a heavy ornament.

This is about deterrence and reduction. Elimination, sadly, is not a realistic goal.

I agree.Maybe I watched to many (criminal minds TV shows) but knife murders are very very up close and personal and carries a risk to the perp. Normally means serial killer or gang related -- gun murders are committed by cowards from a safe distance.

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